however brief a span of time, might be worth something to somebody. the republicans keep saying, it's not worth anything. we don't care. why aren't you giving it up? watch this space tomorrow. power play? a bold move by president obama sets the stage for another bitter battle over tax cuts on capitol hill. river of ruin. the worst wildfire in colorado's history turns a whitewater river jet-black. and, gush hour. a water main break in china makes for a messy morning commute. good morning, i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and we're going to begin this morning with familiar ground. battle lines being drawn on capitol hill after president obama proposed to extend expiring bush-era tax cuts. but not for everyone. this as the republican-led house prepares to revisit the nation's health care reform law. nbc's brian moore joins us from washington with the latest on all of this. brian, good morning. >> reporter: the house is heading forward with what looks like a show vote. for the republicans it's an important show in this election year. >> the gentle lady field yields back her time -- >> reporter: house republicans head back into battle today against president obama's health care reform law. >> it would make you believe it was all free. but it's not. it's going to cost somebody, and that's going to be the american citizens. >> reporter: the house is brushing aside the supreme court decision upholding the law. senate democrats, sure to shoot down any repeal. the senate is already looking ahead to the next big battleground.

over extending the bush-era tax cuts. >> economic cons consequences of taking more money from successful people -- >> reporter: senate republicans are pushing back on president obama's call to extend the cuts for one year but only for those making less than $250,000 a year. >> let's not hold the vast majority of americans and our entire economy hostage while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the healthy. >> reporter: mitt romney in a radio interview called the proposal an economic misstep. >> we just had a terrible jobs report just last week, and now to add a higher tax on job creators and on small business is about the worst thing i could imagine to do if you want to create jobs. >> reporter: the president's telling congress not to consider an across the board-extension. he says he'll veto it. last night on "the ed show," illinois senator dick durbin talked about mitt romney's

refusal to disclose his finances saying the republican candidate is not carrying on the tradition set by his father, former michigan governor george romney. >> who set the standard for income disclosure of presidential candidates? mitt romney's father. mitt romney's father filed 12 years of income tax returns and said, this ought to be the standard. how many years of income tax returns has mitt romney, his son, filed? one. it's the least amount of disclosure of any presidential candidate of either political party in the last 36 years. >> each night veteran talk show host ed shuts and his guests debate and discuss the most important issues affecting americans. be sure to watch "the ed show" weeknights at 8:00 eastern on msnbc, the place for politics. temperatures are falling in many parts of the country but the problems created by the devastating recent heat wave are still on the rise. according to the u.s. government, record heat has left

corn and soybeans in the worst shape since 1988's farm belt drought and that means higher food prices could be on the way. nbc's jay gray has details. >> reporter: as a record heat wave finally begins to break, the concern, damage and deadly effects still linger. after temperatures over 100 degrees across much of the country for the past two weeks. >> it's a very dangerous circumstance. >> reporter: the extreme conditions are being blamed for at least 74 deaths across 14 states. and noaa scientists confirmed what many of us have already felt -- the first six months of this year have been hottest ever on record. >> we've seen worsening conditions across much of the intermountain west stretching through the central plains and into the ohio valley. that's having impacts on the ground such as the wildfires we've been seeing. also with agriculture. >> reporter: a cold front this week could drop temperatures in many places by 10 to 15 degrees, bringing some relief and much-needed rain. >> our farmers right now are really hurting. >> reporter: drought conditions stretch across more than half of

the country right now, creating what scientists call the largest drought footprint of the 21st century. corn stalks and many other crops have withered and died and any rain now is little more than an insult to so many farmers who have already lost the season. >> rain today is not going to do us any good. it's over with on corn. mother nature hasn't been very good to us this summer. >> reporter: a blistering summer that's really only just begun. jay gray, nbc news. here's your "first look" at some of the other news going on around america today. in colorado a whitewater river has been turned black thanks to runoff from weeks of wildfires. kayakers shot this video showing the result when heavy rains helped fill the rushing water with ash, charred debris, and mud. the contamination came from the high park fire which bumped for more than three weeks. in virginia the force of a storm that officials believe was either a small tornado or

microburst. debris was sent crashing to the ground, nearby a dance studio and cheerleading school were ripped apart. there were kids and adults inside and two were hurt. in new jersey, with lightning threatening, a teenaged girl jumped from a choir lift along the jersey shore rather than just waiting for her turn to get off. the ride was stopped when the storm moved in. that left her waiting in midair while others were being removed. the girl did admit she freaked out but she says she was willing to break a few bones rather than being struck by lightning. and finally in new york, who knew animals could be such squares. a new zoo exhibit features giant lego replicas not far away gr their real-life counterparts. one of the animals took 37,000 bricks and nearly 400 hours to create. now for a look at your national weather todd santos has your with are channel forecast. >> when i first saw that i

didn't realize they were interspersed among the actual annuals. >> just hanging out. the other animals are like, what's this guy doing here? >> we want to at least mention a few things we are finding, something of note. we are dealing with our latest, our strongest storms so far in the pacific hurricane season. why do i act more fascinated than concerned? it's the fact that amelia is now a category 4 with 140-mile-per-hour winds, moving away from land. that's why i'm not overly concerned about it. ahead of that system, daniel weakened to a tropical storm. just recently. the one thing i should note about both systems, they're tracking off west-northwest or west for daniel. they will start to increase maybe some of the surf heights in and around hawaii by early tomorrow morning. that's one of the bigger issues. they both weaken as they get to some of the cooler waters in the central pacific. these had to mention the strongest storms so far in the pacific. showers and thunderstorms in place from some of the same areas they flared up yesterday

during the heat, again along that frontal boundary from the edge of the carolinas back through the central mississippi valley and through texas could become active. it's the heat of the day that will get those going. d.c., isolated chance. better chances toward raleigh, char shot, south carolina, atlanta as well. a few showers toward the houston area, a few of them producing a little bit of lightning. we'll talk about what we can expect the next couple of days. for some areas it's repeating itself day after day. also coming up, earnings start off down. china shows no sign of heating up. and what is by far america's favorite flower? your first look at business headlines straight ahead. prince is king of the home run derby. and cheering a yankees slugger. [ male announcer ] you sprayed them.

thought they were dead. huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem. did you know honey nut cheerios is america's favorite cereal? oh, you're good! hey, did you know that honey nut cheerios is... oh you too! ooh, hey america's favorite cereal is... honey nut cheerios ok then off to iceland!

welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories this morning. russia's foreign minister met in moscow. russia promised not to sign weapons contracts with syria or deliver arms that had been ordered until the syrian crisis is resolved. more than $200 million in customer funds appear to be missing from the accounts of it futures broker pfg best. the company's founder tried to commit suicide outside his headquarters in cedar falls, iowa. a federal judge tossed out cyclist lance armstrong's lawsuit aimed at blocking the u.s. anti-doping agency from moving ahead with charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs. the judge said armstrong seemed more interested in whipping up public opinion in his favor than presenting the facts. an elaborate drug smuggling tunnel running more than 750 feet has been discovered under the border between mexico and arizona. the tunnel had electricity, ventilation, and even small cars

to transport the drugs. when you make a mistake at work how many people notice? in china, a work crew accidentally punched a hole in a shanghai water main and that sent a huge geyser of water more than 16 feet in the air. now here is your "first look" at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics." it's not just democrats who want mitt romney to disclose. former republican party chairman and mississippi governor haley barbour told cnn mitt romney should release his tax returns. "new york times" columnist paul krugman says mitt romney should level with voters about how much he would personally benefit from the policies he advocates. krugman wrote, unless romney does reveal the truth about his investments, quote, we can only assume he is hiding something seriously damaging. the arkansas "democrat gazette" reports democratic congressional candidate ken aden

dropped out of his bid for a northwest arkansas seat after the newspaper found documents disproving aden's claims he was in special forces in the military. "the washington post" reports swing states are about to be slammed with a summertime blitz of new ads from conservative karl rove's super pac crossroads gps. the group bought $25 million worth of anti-obama ads that will air in nine battleground states starting today. "the huffington post" reports the department of justice argued in a trial yesterday the voeder i.d. law in texas would disenfranchise 600,000 minority voters who don't have the approved form of identification. on fox news, texas governor rick perry says his state rejects medicaid expansion in the health care reform. perry argued "to expand this program is not unlike adding 1,000 people to the titanic." on the mclaughlin group pat buchanan was asked when the u.s.

will elect a us president. he replied, 2040 or 2050. that late? pat buchanan said, "let's hope so." that's your morning dish of "scrambled politics." here's your "first look" at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,736. after dipping 36 points yesterday. the s&p lost 2. the nasdaq fell 5. looking at overseas trading the nikkei skidded 39 points. in hong kong, the hang seng was down 31. for a third straight session, stocks slid monday. this thanks to worry over european debt, asian weakness and lower second-quarter earnings. alcoa kicked off earnings after the bell posting a loss. nevertheless, alcoa's revenue and profit still beat expectations. and the company forecast growing aerospace and auto demand. spain's ten-year bond yield rose above the 7% crisis level. eurozone finance ministers are

now said to be ready to give spain new loans and an extra year to slash its budget and agree to bailout terms for the country's bank bs. >> more signs of a chinese slow-down. imports rose less than expected in june. while inflation eased to a 29-month low. back here at home, visa and mastercard fell on a gown grade, blaming slower consumer spending and sluggish global growth. advanced micro devices tumbled after warning revenue would fall on soft chinese and european sales. reduced demand for coal and rising costs drove patriot coal to file for bankruptcy. the bright spots, amerigroup soared on its sale to wellpoint for $4.5 billion. intel will buy 15% of amsl for more than $4 billion. campbell soup will buy juice marries boltto us farms. consumer credit expanded at the fastest pace in five months, a sign americans are still

spending. when it comes to flowers, nothing apparently smells sweeter business-wise than a rose. the u.s. imports roughly 1.5 billion a year, easily the nation's top-selling cut flower. with most exported from colombia. coming up at baseball's all-star celebration in kansas city, a new york yankee is booed. and a detroit tiger slugger makes home run derby history. your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. for a relaxing vacation. ♪ sometimes, we go for a ride in the park. maybe do a little sightseeing. or, get some fresh air. but this summer, we used our thank youpoints to just hang out with a few friends in london. [ male announcer ] the citi thankyou visa card. redeem the points you've earned to travel with no restrictions. rewarding you, every step of the way.

welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. in sports last night, detroit tiger prince fielder became the second player in major league history to win multiple home run derby titles. here's nbc's fred rogen. >> good morning. last year robinson cano was a home run derby hero, yesterday he was treated like a zero. a bronx cheer for the yankee slugger, booed at introductions and cheered every time he hit the ball. the captain was hearing it from the crowd because he didn't pick billy butler to take part in the derby. cano didn't hit a single home run there there were plenty of home run busy everybody else. if butler was to take anybody's spot it would have been mark

trumbo's. peppered the roof in left field several times. look at david ortiz. he knows trumbo belongs. mark finished with 14 bombs but lost in a swing-off to jose batista for a spot in the finals. prince fielder, this splash shot in the second round, estimated 476 feet. nobody else got close to that distance. in the end it was bautista and fielder. jose leads the bigs with 27 homers. that meant nothing in the final. he could muster only seven in the last round. fielder nearly doubled that. smashed a beastly 12 in the final. ended the night with 28. the champ in 2009, prince is once again the king of the derby. he joins ken griffey jr. as the only player to win multiptltipl titles. the all-star is tonight. matt cain starts for the n.l., justin verlander for the a.l. the catch of the night came off a mark trumbo home run. middle of the screen, one of kansas city's finest made the

grab. sign that guy up. the long arm of the law has some pretty good hands. that's your "first look at sports." now for another look at the weather, here is meteorologist todd santos with the forecast. good morning again. >> i'm glad i wasn't here last week to have to tell everybody how hot it was going to be. >> that was bill's job. >> incredible, yeah. i'll at least have the better information as far as the temperatures. not so bad as you step out the door. a little mild in d.c., 76. a little on the sticky side. maybe cool off a couple of degrees prior to sunrise. later this afternoon 85 in d.c. with a chance for isolated thunderstorms. not overwhelming. as you travel south on 95, that chance increasing especially during daytime heeding. phoenix the low one-teens across the area. back through d.c. up towards new york, clouds in place. temperatures mid and upper 80s. closer to the averages for this time of year. beautiful from chicago to kansas city. 90 in denver. still a chance for thunderstorms in towards atlanta. a quick look toward thursday with showers approaching the western great lakes.

coming up, the latest attempt to pump life into "american idol's" ratings. plus, they may have a prenup over money but on all other issues katie holmes has muscled an overwhelming divorce victory over tom cruise. your "first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. , less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. ♪ atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity...

that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. ♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ i want to try ♪ i can almost touch the sky [ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions from the olympic village to the stadium. solutionism. the new optimism.™ ♪ this dream

♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8.

last week, house speaker john boehner said that americans won't fall in love with mitt romney before the election. yeah. which explains romney's new campaign slogan, mitt romney, will you accept this rose? that's right. boehner said voters won't fall

in love with mitt romney, then it got even weirder when boehner was like, at least not like i have. i mean, the white house is telling americans not to read too much into friday's bad jobs report, or as americans put it, "you had me at don't read too much." >> tonight jimmy welcomes kelly ripa, kristin johnson, and singer tom waits. "late night with jimmy fallon" on your local nbc station. time for entertainment news. it was really fast. 11 days after katie holmes shocked tom cruise with a surprise divorce filing a deal has been reached. apparently she gets primary custody of suri. "the "los angeles times"" is quoting a source and reports holmes, who was raised catholic, also will control their daughter's religious upbringing. holms' concern over cruise indoctrinating her into scientology is.

theedly part of what led to the split. with a prenup making money a nonissue the settlement helps cruise and scientology drawing out what was already a public relations disaster. elsewhere, fox executives desperate to revive "american idol's" sagging ratings may drop randy jackson and replace him with adam lambert. and finally, after witnessing 100-mile-an-hour freeway game of cat and mouse between justin bieber and paparazzi last friday, an l.a. city councilman is warning of a "tragedy waiting to happen." that probably makes sense, 100 miles an hour, freeways, two people, not a good idea. can we just keep it like on the sidewalk? do we really have to get -- >> what are you trying to do? taking photos out of the car at that speed? >> exactly. well, thankfully the tom cruise and katie holmes divorce is

settled, now we don't have to talk about it every day which we were doing for 11 days. you had me looking it up to make sure i came in here prepared. that's outside of my character. >> i'm lynn berry, this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. am. president obama turns up the heat on republicans over middle class tax cuts. mitt romney and the gop as defenders of the rich and threatening to veto a bill that includes any tax cuts for the wealthy. the question is with new polls showing the candidates in a dad heat with this issue follow us all the way to the election? as the violence continues in syria, patience is wearing thing among the allies of president ba sheesh al assad as russia says it will no longer supply weapons to the syrian army. the question is will assad eventually bow under the pressure and voluntarily leave his country, or will